Abandon
by Enys
Summary: Tony’s life comes crashing down around him when he’s abandoned after his extraction from a complete undercover operation goes horribly wrong. With nowhere to run and no one to turn too... Tony begins to slowly loose his faith in his team and himself.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Tony's life comes crashing down around him when he's abandoned in a foreign country after his extraction from a complete undercover operation goes horribly wrong. There's nowhere to run, no one to turn too and Tony begins to slowly loose his faith in his team and himself.

**Notes:** I've always wanted to explore where things could go if Tony was forced to deal with being 'abandoned' by his team, what with his issues with his father and all. I have been playing way too much Far Cry 2... This takes place in Africa but no place names as such are directly mentioned, I sort of leave that to you own respective imaginations. I don't want to offend anyone so if anything I write is wrong or inaccurate and needs to be fixed please promptly tell me, other that than please enjoy the story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS, if I did we'd know a lot more about Tony, hell we'd know a lot more about the whole team in general. This is my first time playing on their swing set, in other words my first fan-fiction. Please let me know if you like the story and if I should continue with it or not, comments, ideas, theories and everything else are all very welcome. Spoilers through to season Six, this could possibly take place sometime during the latest season, perhaps after Nine Lives. -Enys

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"How long!?" Gibbs shouted across MTAC at McGee who flinched and began typing feverishly at his console.

"We have satellite for another five minutes Boss." McGee shook his head. Tony wasn't going to make it. Gibbs swore under his breath and suddenly looked as if he was going to kill the nearest living object, McGee was thankful he was on the other side of the room.

"Haul ass to that airport DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted down his ear-mike so loud Tony winced half a world away. Gibbs could hear Tony breathing heavily as he ran, heads would roll if his senior field agent didn't come home safe, he hadn't stepped foot on American soil in a long time. Leroy Jethro Gibbs had never left a man behind before and he wasn't about to start now.

"Hauling ass Boss." Tony replied with a smile as he ran for all he was worth. The undercover operation had gone off without _much_ of a hitch. His undercover skills had brought down a terrorist cell operating within Africa that had been planning on sabotaging some Navy equipment on the way to America. Had they succeeded, there would have been a huge loss of life. It had been a long and grueling operation. Tony was tired- exhausted even, physically and mentally, it had been a long undercover operation, almost five months. Five months in a foreign country and he had succeeded. The only thing that had gone wrong with the plan thus far was the fact that they were banking on a car being there for Tony when the time came for him to pull out and there hadn't been one, someone somewhere had screwed up and for once it wasn't him. As per their plan his death had been faked perfectly, just in case he needed to operate within Africa again for some reason.

With the operation completed, his death faked and the apparent lack of a getaway car… Tony found himself sprinting through jungle and across bush lands in order to reach the region's only airport that was launching its last plane. The airport was closing for many reasons, some to do with the case Tony had been on, and this was his only chance at getting out. If he missed that plane… well he didn't want to think about it.

"Boss…" Tony huffed as his arm got caught on a branch and was cut open. "Boss…do you think you could, you know, maybe hold that plane?" He breathed as he vaulted over a rotted log and kept running. He had run what felt like miles and hadn't seen so much of another person let alone some sort of mode of transportation.

"I'm damn well gonna try DiNozzo." Gibbs sighed. He watched with anticipation as the satellite tracked Tony from above. Covering his mic Gibbs looked over to the Director who was sitting in the chairs behind him.

"Don't let me down." Tony breathed as he ran, wincing as he willed himself to keep sprinting.

"We have to hold that plane." Gibbs glared at Vance; if looks could kill he would be dismembered and decapitated.

"Gibbs… you know the answer." The director replied solemnly. Gibbs tilted his head to the side and jutted it forwards a-ways as if to emphasize his point and intensified his glare. "I'm sorry Leroy I can't. It's leaving at 1200 and there's nothing you or I can do about it. My hands are completely tied." The director really didn't dislike Tony enough to abandon him in a foreign country… but if that boy didn't make it to the plane there was nothing anyone could do for him, mostly due to the political ramifications. He'd have to work his own way out and then get in contact with NCIS again so they could extract him.

McGee sat nervously in his chair, sweat dripping off his forehead as he watched Tony sprint like a madman, he didn't want to interrupt Gibbs and the Director but they were running out of time.

"Two minutes of feed left." McGee announced.

"God damn it!" Gibbs bellowed at the screen, the plane was going to take off any minute.

"I'm sorry Jethro." The director stated, no emotion evident in his voice.

"The hell you are!" Gibbs spun and shouted back, pointing a finger at the man opposite him. Gibbs knew damn well Vance held some sort of grudge and a general dislike towards Tony. The Director made to stand up and open his mouth to reprimand his Agent but Tony saved Jethro at the last second.

"Boss?" Tony questioned, his voice strained from all the running. He was slowing and he knew it, he wasn't going to make it unless they held that damn plane. _'Don't let me down Gibbs, I know you won't let me down, come on boss…'_ He thought over and over.

"Tony…" Gibbs's tone was one of defeat, Tony could hear it, he'd never heard Gibbs speak like that before, the senior field agent's heart sank and a frown creased his brow as he kept running but slowed considerably.

"Gibbs? Gibbs tell me your holding that plane" DiNozzo pleaded, he was near desperate at this point. He was almost there; he could see the gleaming white aircraft on the runway. McGee in MTAC on the other side of the world didn't want to announce that they were out of time, he almost couldn't say it but they were about to loose the satellite feed, and Tony.

"Boss… minute and a half of feed left." McGee reluctantly spoke up as he stared at the screen. Tony was still running for all he was worth, the plane had started its engines and was beginning to coast on the runway.

"Then get me more time McGee!" Gibbs bellowed back.

"I can't! Boss there are no other satellites in range." Tim wished he could do something, anything, but there was nothing else in array for at least another six hours and Tony couldn't stay in the area. Meanwhile Tony stopped running as he saw the plane start to move and pull out onto the runway, he couldn't make the distance in time no matter how fast he wished he were.

"Tony!" Gibbs shouted at the screen as he watched DiNozzo cease sprinting from the above angle view the satellite gave.

"I'm not getting out of this one am I Boss?" Tony squinted through the mid day sun at the plane as it began to take off and hung his head. His tone was dejected, his luck had finally run out, well and truly.

"DiNozzo… listen to me, I will find you! No one gets left behind. Semper Fi." Gibbs tried to reassure Tony but they were out of time. This wasn't happening; he was not about to lose his senior field agent!

"There's a first for everything…" Tony replied beaten, he watched as the plane's wheels lifted off from the dirt air-strip and it pulled high into the sky, he tracked it until it crossed paths with the sun and he winced, looking away as spots dotted his eyes. "Tell everyone I'm sorr-"

"Tony? … DiNozzo?! Damn it…Tony?!!" Gibbs bellowed. He was staring at the screen as it began to cut into static, the image of Tony distorting and eventually it faded out altogether. McGee frantically typed, he tried to get a visual on Tony any damn way he could but that was it, he was gone. Gibbs hung his head as a silence filled MTAC. A man had been left behind, left for dead; they had just lost Tony, a senior field agent, a friend and a son.

Gibbs threw his microphone with rage at the screen and stormed out of MTAC. He sidestepped the small group huddled around Tony's desk as they moved towards him with questioning looks and muttered something about coffee before he was gone. Abbey stated under her breath in passing that she had never seen Gibbs so angry. McGee appeared from MTAC moments later, a look of shock plastered on his face. Abbey hugged him and led him to his desk.

"What happened McGee!? Is Tony coming home?" The Goth questioned, her eyes were more than worried and pleading for an answer. McGee didn't respond for some time and shook his head sadly.

"He didn't make it to the plane."


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! I really honestly did not expect such a wonderful response to my story. A very, very big thank you to all who have read this, and to those who have commented. I appreciate it very much! Without further a-due here's the second chapter, I hope it lives up to expectations. -Enys

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Tony looked about himself before he began to move; he kept his head low at all times. The cap he wore was tilted down over his face to cover as much of it as possible. Dark sunglasses hid his green eyes. It had been two and a half weeks since he was left behind. He had managed to get out of the previous region, barely, and enter a new one- all completely on foot… but this one wasn't any better than the last. Well maybe _slightly_ better, but not by much.

He laughed inwardly, which caused a small smile to grace his features, as he thought on the reaction of his team if he were to talk into the bullpen sporting pitch-black dyed hair and eyebrows like he had now. Thinking about McGee and Ziva's expressions made him smile, he supposed that Abby would greatly approve of the move, which was partly why he chose the color. Black hair was far removed from his usual light brown, he wanted to make sure that no one could identify him until it was _absolutely_ necessary. There was always the risk that someone he knew from his previous undercover operation would pop up somewhere. You could never ever be too careful. His cover, Andrew Di Antonio was supposed to be 'dead' after all.

Trotting across a dusty, barely-tarred road, Tony fished out a water bottle from his army-green canvas shoulder bag, unscrewed the lid and took a large gulp. He retreated from the burning midday sun down a small side ally, leaning his back against the cold brick, the former-brunet let out a sigh. Tony let his thoughts drift for a few blissful moments as he stood catching his breath. He wondered what his team was doing at that moment half a world away… Gibbs was maybe working on his boat. Ziva probably cooking something or working on her slang, McGee maybe writing or playing computer games, Abby bowling or doing whatever it was mistress' of darkness like her did. Palmer was probably out trying to use the moves on girls he had so kindly received from 'DiNozzo the sex machine' before he had to leave and Ducky... Ducky was probably regretting taping that one episode of jeopardy for his mother again. The simple thoughts made him smile. However he knew that Gibbs probably had them working around the clock.

It was those very thoughts that had kept Tony going these past weeks, he could have given up a countless number of times but he knew that back home, Gibbs wouldn't rest until he was dragged kicking and screaming out of NCIS or he brought his agent home. Tony owed it to his boss not to give up, that, and he supposed he wouldn't mind seeing his 'family' one more time. Tony stared into space for a few moments, his eyes becoming blank as he became lost in thought.

The past few months had been some of the hardest in his career as an NCIS agent. It had been difficult to keep a constant eye on him-self and stay distanced from those he was working to expose. Tony knew he had a rather unfortunate habit of becoming a little too involved in character on longer operations and more often than not found himself becoming attached to certain people. Usually at the end of everything Gibbs and his team were there to help him through the depression, self-loathing and guilt he usually felt… but not this time, at least not yet.

Would they ever be there again? He hopped so, that hope was all that kept driving him. Gunshots suddenly sounded in the distance and Tony sighed, he couldn't remember the last time he felt safe when outside. Screwing the lid back on his water bottle and depositing it in his bag Tony re-adjusted himself, felt about for his well-concealed pistol and checked his surroundings before moving off again at a trot. Gibbs had to be on his way…he had too. To think that the man he thought of as a father had left him to die was unfathomable. He _so_ didn't want to go there in his subconscious; he couldn't deal with those issues of abandonment he harbored on top of everything else. Gibbs was a marine and marines didn't leave men behind. Tony's own words however echoed inside his head. _'There's a first for everything…'_

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Gibbs stormed into the bullpen with a hot cup of coffee in one hand and a small wad of files in the other. He slammed the files down on his desk causing McGee and Ziva to filch.

"What have you got?" He snapped angrily, folding his arms. Ziva shot a small glance at McGee who returned her gaze. Almost in unison the two agents leapt from their seats and stood around the plasma screen. Ziva picked up the control and brought up images of Tony, the people who were involved in his previous undercover operation and satellite shots. In all honesty she had nothing, but she wasn't willing to tell Gibbs that, at least not directly. The last few weeks had been absolute hell for her, McGee and anyone else who dared cross paths with Gibbs. He blamed himself for loosing Tony and she knew his self-loathing was escalating every day. McGee decided to talk first, rather Ziva let him.

"We conducted another sweep of the general area Boss, the satellite brought up nothing again. Checked the reports from the local authorities as well, no one has seen any trace of Tony, or if they have they aren't saying anything." He finished and looked over to Ziva. McGee had been feeling just as guilty as Gibbs over loosing Tony, if only he had been able to find some way of keeping track of his team mate they all wouldn't be doing this right now. Tony would be at his desk annoying the crap out of them all, and McGee wouldn't have had it any other way.

Ziva inwardly sighed when McGee finished talking and looked to her, she had nothing, McGee had nothing… when it came down to it she was willing to deflect Gibbs' wrath away from McGee. Gibbs had been hard on the computer expert since Tony went missing. Neither of them was at fault, she just wished that they would come to their senses and realize this.

"No reports have come back on the whereabouts of Baako Mansa, the operative who was supposed to put the car in place for Tony…" Ziva paused to bring up a photo of an African male in his mid thirties with dread locks and glasses. "Officially he is also missing; he reportedly left his safe house and stopped off in a small village, located approximately seven miles above the location of the terrorist's former base of operations where he was supposed to leave the car..." Ziva paused again and brought up a map detailing the location of the village, its general position in relation to the terrorist base and where the car should have ended up. "He left the village after fifteen minutes and was seen traveling off in the direction of the base but sightings of him end there…" Ziva finished and briefly glanced at Gibbs who had stood back from his agents as they told him what they had, or rather what they didn't have. She averted her eyes from her Boss quickly and looked back at the plasma screen, her gaze drifting to an image of Tony.

He smiled back at her and she couldn't help but feel a deep pang of sadness. She didn't want to admit it but she missed him, a lot more than she ever thought she would. Tony had been gone for five months, and during those months she didn't find herself missing him so much, at the time, but now that he was unaccounted for her insides twisted at the thought. Ziva couldn't help but feel slightly guilty herself for not being there when Tony had to leave all those months ago, when she returned from her short vacation her partner wasn't there. He was half a world away and she never got to say goodbye, or goodluck.

Gibbs' silence at their finished reports was extremely un-nerving. Ziva and McGee found themselves turning to face their senior, hoping that he would break the quiet. Gibbs looked back and forth, between Ziva and McGee and raised his eyebrows.

"Is that it?" He questioned and his two agents nodded, clearly bracing them-selves for a lashing. Gibbs silently fumed. "Find out what the hell Mansa stopped off in that village for..." When neither of his agents moved he shouted. "Now!" McGee and Ziva leapt back to their desks and Gibbs turned on his heal storming off in the direction of Abby's lab. McGee and Ziva exchanged quick glances before they got to work.

On the way to the Goths laboratory Gibbs picked her up a Caf Pow and generally attempted to calm himself somewhat before entering. Stepping through the doorway he found his eyes bombarded with images of Tony. Abby had his face on almost all of her monitors. His blue eyes drifted over the photographs and the deep guilt he felt twisted uncomfortably in his gut, resting his eyes on Abby he sighed inwardly. She had her head leaning on top of her folded arms, her eyes locked onto a picture of Tony taken at a crime scene, he was smiling and looking away, his head half tilted down in a sheepish manner. Walking up beside Abby, Gibbs placed the caffeine-rich drink beside her and waited.

Abby sighed and slowly sat up, taking the drink Gibbs had got her she took a sip and placed it back down.

"I miss him Gibbs…" She sighed. The ex-marine put a comforting arm across her shoulder.

"I know Abbs." Gibbs replied softly, Abby stood and enveloped him in a huge hug.

"I really, really miss him!" She broke away from the hug and pouted. "You promised me you'd bring him home safe! It's been almost six months now! Well he's really only been missing for two weeks, four days and thirty five minutes…thirty six… but you promised me!" She whined. Gibbs looked at her sadly.

"I know... you also know I don't break promises Abbs." Gibbs tried to reassure her but his words sounded less than convincing, even in his own mind. Abby could tell he was hurting, it wasn't just the fact that Gibbs was a marine and marines didn't leave anyone behind…Tony was an integral part of their team, nothing felt right without him around.

The way that Abby looked at him made Gibbs feel even worse, if that were possible. He hadn't slept much at all since he watched the screen displaying Tony's image fade into static up in MTAC. The guilt and self-loathing he felt over the fact that he had failed Tony was all consuming. He knew he was also living up to that second B more so than ever before, due to the manifested anger he felt over this whole mess, but if he didn't vent it some way he'd explode.

"You have something for me?" He questioned his forensic scientist, Abby nodded and began to tell Gibbs what she had found by analyzing the frames seconds before the satellite cut out on Tony.

"…the only thing I can tell you with any degree of certainty Gibbs is that Tony left the area in a general eastern direction…" She explained as she brought up the images she had looked over a million times in the past two weeks. Gibbs looked up at the giant plasma and nodded. He walked over to Abby and kissed her on the cheek.

"It's a start." He said softly as he turned and walked out of her lab. Abby stood there sadly and watched Gibbs go before turning to sit back down. She tapped a few buttons on her keyboard and went back to staring at an image of Tony.


	3. Chapter 3

Quick note: So many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to sit down and read my story. A big thank you to all those who have commented, you really give me a lot of inspiration to keep writing this. I'm very; very sorry that this update has come so late, between Christmas and my brother getting engaged- and wanting to be married extremely quickly I haven't had a lot of time to write anything and my muse has been a bit faulty. But sorry is a sign of weakness right? [lol] and I cant use those as excuses so I'll do my best to update this as frequently as possible from now on. Thank you again; I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It's kind of a long one. [There is also a bit of harsh language towards the end of this chapter, just a kind warning.] ~Enys

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_"Civil unrest in remote reaches of Africa have rendered many areas inaccessible as villagers flee a brutal militia territory war. The pressure in the region had been building for quite some time…"_

Gibbs watched the plasma screen displaying the news update with his arms folded and a grim expression on his face. Despite all his attempts, he couldn't hide his feelings regarding the terribly unsuccessful efforts that had been made to bring his agent home in past few weeks. Every single lead they had followed up on yielded no results and they were blocked at every turn by authorities overseas that were barely holding their heads above water trying to deal with the emergency. The senior NCIS agent forced himself to look away from the shocking TV reports displaying dead bodies, fleeing people and crying children; somewhere amongst all that turmoil was Tony. Gibbs locked his eyes on the floor pushing back thoughts that his senior field agent was dead. He was thankful that Ziva, McGee or especially Abby hadn't been there to see the news report or his reaction to it; it had been hard on all of them working endless hours of overtime to try and catch even one small glimpse of DiNozzo.

The heated situation that had spilled forth in the area with the small turf war did nothing to brighten their spirits or hopes of finding him alive. Tony had been gone for quite some time, but it seemed like only now were they all beginning to feel the massive hole he left. Now that he was actually _gone_ and not just on mission did they all look up at the elevator every time it chimed wanting to see Tony walk through its open doors. Unconsciously Gibbs had turned his back to the plasma and looked over at Tony's empty, still completely untouched desk. He furrowed his brow slightly in regret; he hadn't been treating Tony like he used too… no head-slaps, no hair tousles of affection. In all honesty Gibbs had seen Tony mature to the point where he thought those forms of affection were no longer needed. He hadn't noticed but Tony had missed it and only in his senior field agent's absence did he realize that the young man was no longer vying for his approval _as much_ as he used to. A rift had existed between them for quite some time and it hadn't gotten any smaller it seemed. Breaking himself from his thoughts, Gibbs forced himself to look down at his watch. It was nearing 10 am and he had an appointment with the Director.

Usually he wasn't one to wait, or respect those Vance saw, but in this case the man sitting in Jenny's former office was one of importance. He was the chief of something or other, Gibbs didn't take note nor did he care, he had more pressing matters on his mind…he just wanted his two minutes with his superior. There was also the fact that he wanted to take a softer approach with Vance regarding the situation with Tony. It wouldn't help his agent any if he went storming in un-invited and interrupted an important meeting resulting in Vance getting angry with him and not listening to a word he had to say. Like clockwork Gibbs looked up at the upper level to see an elderly man with graying hair exit the office followed by Vance, the two shook hands and smiled at one another before the man swiftly left. Taking that as his cue, with a small glance towards the Director, Gibbs made his way up the steel-railed staircase quickly and into Vance's office. Despite being offered a seat he didn't take it. He chose to stand and stare at his boss with a cold intensity. Taking that as his cue the Director spoke up first as he took his seat.

"I assume you've been watching the news Gibbs." Vance questioned rhetorically in a patronizing tone, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.

Gibbs merely raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side as if to say 'Ya think?'.

"Then you know what I'm going to say." Vance continued. "I can't approve your teams' request to go overseas looking for DiNozzo. Nothings changed Gibbs; you knew just as well as I did that something like this would happen once DiNozzo finished the operation. That's why we took careful precautions to make sure he made it out before the region became hell with the rival factions looking to move in on Coetzee's ground once he was removed."

"Precautions that obviously backfired Leon." Gibbs shot back.

"Obviously, and you know I'm still allowing you to investigate those issues, but I have to be honest. If it appears to me that Tony's case is interfering with your other investigations I'll have to remove your team from affairs." The Director didn't want to have to go there but he did anyway un-fearing of Gibbs. He needed to put his top team back in line.

"It's not interfering." Gibbs responded in a much quieter tone than either man expected.

"It better not be, I let you take it as a favor, Gibbs, you know and I know it should have gone to a team more emotionally detached from events."

"I helped ran his damn operation…" The senior agent's temperature began to rise in frustration and he raised his voice in anger that was laced with guilt, but it was more self-directed than towards Vance.

"I know Jethro and I said I'd let you continue to investigate Tony's failed extraction but sooner or later you may have to come to terms with the fact that he might not ever be found. In light of that issue I'd like you took look at files for a replacement member for your team." Vance pushed a pile of files towards his agent with an indifferent stare. He was being a little gentler towards Gibbs than usual. In light of the more recent news reports it was a hard thing to come to terms with, that one of your agents was unaccounted for and may have died while on your watch. It made it all the more difficult for everyone involved that the whole event had occurred in another country.

Gibbs regarded the files for no more than two seconds before he promptly pushed them back towards his superior with an intense glare.

"I let you off easy while DiNozzo was undercover. It's been almost two months now, not counting those previous five and you cant run your team a man down forever." Vance retorted making to push the files back. Anyone watching the conversation could have remarked that they were acting childish, but both men were equally as firm in their beliefs and neither was going to budge.

"Give me more time." Gibbs lent over with a firm look and put a solid hand to the files to stop the director from pushing them back over to him any further. Gibbs' intense blue eyes were pleading, almost begging for just one last reprieve but despite his rare display of emotion, which in all honestly looked more like a death stare than an appeal, it went largely ignored by the Director.

"All I've been doing is giving you more time, look at the files and choose a replacement Jethro or I will." Vance had no choice but to be stern, in his mind the quicker that Gibbs got a replacement for his team the sooner they could all move on.

More than furious at Vance, glaring at his boss, Gibbs snatched the files from underneath his superior's hand with force, turned on his heel and left without a word. He dumped the files on his desk with a thud and made a b-line towards the elevator ignoring those who had looked up from their work at the commotion. Gibbs sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair as the doors closed. The elevator ride seemed to take forever as it made its way down to the morgue. He fought with himself over whether or not to look at replacement files for Tony. The hardest part was the uncertainty regarding his fate. He didn't think he could handle the look on his senior field agent's face if he were to walk into the bull pen after all he had been through and saw some stranger sitting at his desk. He cringed to think at the look Tony gave after seeing McGee sitting in his place after they all thought he was dead, which at the time had been humorous…albeit a bit cruel. Feeling the anger and frustration well in his gut Gibbs made to strike at a wall of the elevator but backed off at the last second thinking better than to connect his raw fist with bare metal. Breaking his hand wouldn't help Tony. As the doors of the elevator opened up to Ducky's lab Gibbs cringed out of aggravation and composed him-self.

"Hey Duck."

"Good evening Jethro, I assume you've come to talk to me regarding what I have discovered about our deceased young sailor here?" The ME tapped the metal examination bed displaying an open corpse for inspection with an expecting look but was met with no answer from his old friend. Gibbs' expression looked rather grim. Ducky knew all to well at that moment what was running through his friend's mind. Taking the sadness in Gibbs blue eyes the wrong way the ME furrowed his brow.

"…or is this about our dear Anthony… Oh my! Don't tell me he's…" Ducky exclaimed in fear, everyone had been on edge lately. He especially had been dreading every single cadaver that was brought in, hoping, praying that it wasn't Anthony's. He didn't think he could handle performing yet another autopsy on a friend…on a family member, he had barely held it together for Kate.

"He's not Duck." Gibbs reassured the doctor solemnly, sticking his hands in his pockets. Every inch of the marine was emanating sadness and an unspoken sense of defeat about the whole situation.

"Oh thank goodness! You mustn't scare me like that, …however by your grim expression I don't suppose you've discovered anything new?" Ducky asked as almost hesitantly approaching Gibbs who nodded in response. The ME sighed in gloom at the news.

"I must admit I've missed Anthony terribly, Abby hasn't quite been the same since his 'disappearance' and Ziva hides it very well but I don't think she is coping much better…" He added but was cut off by Gibbs before he could mention the sate of McGee who had been feeling terribly guilty over the whole affair.

"What do I do Duck?" Gibbs asked in a rare plea for help completely exasperated to the point of the feeling manifesting itself in his physical state. The way he stood, looked and felt all quite obviously displayed this, the dark circles under his eyes a testament to the fact he hadn't been sleeping. He was at his wits end; he had never left a man behind before and it was starting to get to him, the fact that the person who he had failed was Tony did not help Gibbs' state whatsoever... He didn't think he could face going to see Abby anymore with all of her monitors set displaying Tony's face as a constant vigil…every time he looked at Ziva she seemed on the verge of tears or rushed to hide her worried expression and McGee constantly cringed when anyone spoke to him about anything that reminded him of Tony.

"We'll Jethro, you simply keep looking, we all owe it to Tony not to give up on him…" the ME responded in a soft tone putting a hand to Gibbs' shoulder and squeezing it gently attempting to reassure him.

"What if we never find him?"

"I'm afraid we will all have to deal with that possibility when the time comes but until then, we pray that he's found alive and well. There's nothing else we can do but hope that Anthony finds some way to contact us in the near future. I dare say with all the strife going on in the area it will be extremely difficult for him to find any means of communicating with us, I'm not completely sure how easy satellite phones, or phones of any matter are to find in those parts of the world in this day and age... Why I remember back in …" Ducky was so busy ranting that he didn't even feel Gibbs had left autopsy. He looked up as the elevator doors dinged shut and shook his head.

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"Another." A solemn voice called out down the bar to the tender.

"Here you go." The man's glass was promptly re-filled with a smooth golden liquid.

"Thanks." Came the soft reply.

"Don't mention it brother."

Tony bore a hole into the side of his glass as he contemplatively stared into its semi-reflective surface. He had only _barely_ been able to keep ahead of the unrest since leaving the airstrip going on two months now. He was dusty; beyond tired physically and mentally and the only thing keeping him on his feet was his desire to get home to his team, his family. It was this same desire that did nothing but plague him every single day. A hundred questions ran through his mind constantly, giving him no reprieve. Was the team here looking for him? If they weren't here then were they even still looking? Had they written him off as dead? Was it worth him even trying to get home? Did they really care about him enough to keep looking after over a month? Questions like that and many, many others constantly swirled in the back of his thoughts. The team wouldn't give up on him…right? …. Right! …Yeah right. He sighed as he continued to stare at his glass.

Tony shook his head sadly. This was the way thing always went with him wasn't it? His father had always said he'd end up in the gutter, he wasn't there _yet_ but he wasn't far from it. In his current frame of mind it wasn't going to take much for Tony to give up and lay down on the side of the road. McGee had probably already over-taken his desk and everyone else had probably already taken his possessions… but no, he couldn't think like that, it wasn't reasonable. They were looking for him! They _would_ bring him home. The situation back home was difficult he reasoned, they probably couldn't gain access to the troubled area, but the more he tried to justify why he hadn't been rescued yet or why they hadn't located him at least- the more confused, frustrated and angry he became. Even though he knew it wasn't fair to his team, he couldn't help it. He was the first man Gibbs had left behind; he snuffed a bitter laugh, abandoned, just like his father had abandoned him. Again he knew his thoughts weren't fair, but at that moment he didn't care, he just wanted to go home. He glanced at his own twisted reflection in his glass and furrowed his brow. Sitting there in the deserted bar drinking a scotch he couldn't help but reflect, he had nothing else to do and quite frankly he was very over the feeling of constantly fearing for his life.

He knew he would have to move soon, but a part of him told him to stay, sit, and not care about the impending probable doom. He didn't know how much about the whole situation the outside world knew…but things looked pretty stuffed from where he was sitting. Tony knew all to well what the cause of it was, but the fact that he was somehow responsible for this mess didn't help his mood. If he hadn't had agreed to help take down the terrorists then all these people wouldn't be suffering… but _if_ he hadn't innocent people would have suffered anyway, dying from whatever disaster the group had planed. "Damned if you do and damned if you don't DiNozzo." He spoke quietly to his now empty glass. He raised his hand for another and the bar tender promptly replied, re-filling it. Voices rang in his head as he downed the glass almost as soon as it was re-filled. Tony usually wasn't one to drink; he had vowed never to use it as an escape since his father was so constantly off his face while he was growing up…but when he became depressed like this it was all he felt he could do.

"The Team's lost without me..."

"Got more work done in these two weeks than we have all year."

"But you missed me right?"

"Yeah something like that…"

Did they even miss him?

So wrapped up in his thoughts Tony didn't even notice that a man had entered the bar and had begun to converse with the barmen.

"Bosede why aren't you gone? It's 4pm the front is headed this way." The man pointed out sternly in a thick South African accent, obviously concerned for the well-being of his friend from the way he was speaking.

"I'm not going anywhere Vass this bar is all I have and I will be damned if I am going to let a bunch of hyenas destroy it." The tall, blond-haired and blue-eyed 'Vass' simply threw his hands up in response to the barmen's stubbornness.

"Whos' this?" The blond remarked tilting his head in the direction of Tony who was quietly wrapped up in staring at his drink. The barmen simply shrugged.

"You need to be more careful about who you let into your bar Boss."

"He's fine." Vass responded to the statement with an eyebrow raise as if to say 'Is that so?'. By this point Tony had registered that someone had entered the establishment but chose not to acknowledge their presence.

"I trust you." Vass responded to Boss with a quick glance, his voice still unsure. "You need a lift my friend? The last truck is leaving in about five minutes." Barely registering that someone had spoken directly to him Tony flicked his eyes sideways and glanced at the man. Immediately noticing that the stranger had two weapons, one tucked into a holster by his hip and another in the back of his jeans by the look of the bulge in his shirt, Tony turned to get a better look at him. His stance was confident yet relaxed, despite the impending threat of the militia he didn't seem hurried or panicked in anyway, like that sort of thing happened every day for him. Tony pegged the man for ex-military of some sort; you didn't work for NCIS for years and not develop the ability to recognize someone with training. Thumping the wooden-toped bar in thanks to Boss Tony stood, he nodded at the man named Vass uttering a quiet 'Sure'.

"Come on then." Vass nodded and turned, offering one last glance at Boss who simply smiled. Resigned to his fate he picked up Tony's glass and began cleaning it with an indifferent demeanor.

As Tony and his acquaintance stepped outside they almost simultaneously each produced sunglasses. Vass extended his hand with a quick smile.

"Pieter Vass."

"Patrick Geiger." Tony reciprocated the handshake with a smirk, laying on a genuine thick South African accent; he had been required to use one for the five moths during his operation. It wasn't difficult at all to summon it again for the sake of developing a cover character for himself. After all, it wasn't like he could strut around shaking peoples hands exclaiming 'Hi there my name is Anthony DiNozzo and I'm a federal agent.'…We'll he could but he didn't have a death wish, at least not yet. Tony inwardly patted himself on the back as he noticed that Vass visibly lightened upon hearing a familiar accent, DiNozzo reasoned he could try and build some measure of trust with the man now. He desperately needed an ally.

"So how did you end up in this mess?" Vass questioned generally curious, as the two men walked across the villages' main bare dusty road towards the last truck out of town, loaded with people.

"I had family here, with all the trouble I thought I could get to them in time. My credentials were stolen I've been stuck on foot without any ID hitching rides ahead of the militia." Tony explained, in all honestly the statement had some truth to it; he couldn't get too inventive with his cover identity. It was best to keep it simple, Rule 1 of undercover identities; keep lies as close to the truth as possible.

"That's some unfortunate luck and bad timing on your part my friend." Vass smiled in sympathy as they neared the truck. Tony stood to the side and waited for his 'new best friend' to check over everything before they headed out of town for good. Having no room left in the back of the truck Tony rode shotgun.

"So where are we going?" He spoke up after a short while, with the small dusty village now far behind them.

"Just up the road." Vass explained as he drove. "Some of us banded together to try and help some school kids and their families get out before its too late, a lot of them walk miles to school every day from the surrounding villages." He explained as he diligently checked the road ahead and behind them for anything and everything. "Some of their families have already been killed. Those we could get out we have, the last rag-tag group is waiting in the village up ahead." Vass paused and sighed, glancing at Tony. Tony sat with his hand resting on the windowsill of the truck looking out at the vast expanse of open fields either side of them. Pillars of black smoke dotted the horizon to their left as if to indicate danger, they in fact signaled the location of burning villages left destroyed in the wake of the power struggle. "Its all a bunch of bull shit let me tell you…" Vass continued, content to vent to Tony simply because he was there. "The authorities should have known better than to remove Coetzee, its like a delicate ecosystem here my friend, you take out the top predator and the whole environment falls apart. The little fish start battling with one another, scrambling to take control of hole left by the big fish, which just in turn screws the whole eco-system… screwing people, like us and like these kids and their families over in the middle. These smaller guys don't care about the people, at least Coetzee knew how to keep the area under control; don't get me wrong the man was a murderer and a crook into some heavy stuff, so they say, but these guys, these smaller fish… they'll kill anyone in the way for the territory…"

Tony stayed silent during Vass' ramble, he furrowed his brows in thought as they drove. In a way, this was entirely his fault and the guilt he felt over the situation was almost too much to bear. He kept trying to rationalize his actions, that if he had not taken out Coetzee's operation then a lot of Americans would have suffered, sailors and their families…but the direct result was this, destruction, children, people and families suffering anyway. He hated himself for returning to the same two endless circling cycles of thought in his mind. He found himself wishing for a fleeting moment that he had never joined NCIS, then none of this would have happened; he wished that he had never been born, but immediately Tony mentally slapped himself for the thoughts. It was all so fucking pointless. Hanging his head he rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses to try and regain some mental composure, if he kept thinking like that he'd end up dead sooner rather than later… For the moment he needed to stay alive.

"We're here, hang back for a bit." Vass announced as the truck pulled into a new village equally as small and as dusty as the last. Tony got out of the truck and walked around back, he helped people get down from the high rear tray and watched as they all scattered in different directions. Some finding family and embracing them warmly, others were running towards their children who were patiently waiting. Other people were not so lucky, some broke down and cried not being able to find their loved ones; some kids were without parents equally as upset. The scenes, some of joy, others of utter heartbreak threatened to demolish the NCIS agent altogether. He was responsible for this and he deserved his fate, he didn't deserve to go home…

At that moment Vass came up beside Tony and put a hand to his shoulder. Immediately the NCIS agent straightened his back and pushed his thoughts aside.

"I explained to the boss-man what happened to you, he's happy for you to stay with us, we'll give you a meal and shelter as long as you help out…" He added with a smile. "And we'll see what we can do about helping you get in touch with your family." Tony nodded with a gracious smile as the two men headed off to help get the remaining children, orphans who couldn't find their families, into a truck. Tony lifted up kid after kid, handing them to another guy above him who seated them in the back of the dusty vehicle and made sure they were okay. As he came to the last girl, she burst into tears. Tony knelt down beside her and took off his sunglasses to appear more human.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry, what's your name?" He questioned the girl in a soft voice.

"Jassie." She sobbed.

"You got a real pretty name there. It'll be okay Jassie. You're gonna be okay. Let me help you into the truck." Jassie nodded with a sniffle and let DiNozzo lift her up. "Good girl." He said as she was taken out of sight, Vass trotted over seeing all the children had been taken care of.

"She the last?"

"Yeah…" Tony answered in a cheerless tone.

"Okay." Vass slapped the side of the truck and whirled his index finger around in a circle signaling for it to move out. As it pulled away Jassie stood and meekly waved goodbye to DiNozzo, he waved back with a quick smile that brightened her face considerably. Tony put his sunglasses back on to hide his welling emotions, he inwardly beat himself up again. Just as the truck was out of site gunfire and panicked screams sounded in the distance.

"Shit." Vass breathed. "They can't be here already…" Tony whirled his head around and ducked instinctively as rocket propelled grenades cracked and exploded down the road they had just come intermixed with the din of machine gun fire.

"Damn…"

* * *

Don't beat me up for the cliff. -hides-


	4. Chapter 4

Umm... Updated sooner rather than later, as promised, lol. Thanks so much again for the encouraging reviews guys! I appreciate every single one of you, I really do –sends love-. To answer some questions Vance won't let Gibbs go over-seas because, _at the moment,_ it's just too dangerous, he really doesn't want to loose any more agents despite how nasty he may seen I guess… however don't worry! –winks- For the continued security of the mission Tony ditched his phone, all shall be explained. Patience my friends! Thanks so much again. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. -Enys

* * *

"Damn…" Tony swore as bullets flew mere inches past his head and slammed into the dusty road all around him kicking up a cloud of dirt, he ducked and scrambled to find cover. The people left in the village scattered, screaming as they ran with their families to find somewhere safe to hide. Vass followed Tony, and the two ducked behind what used to be the towns', now apparently abandoned, school building. Pieter took cover on the top left corner of the structure closest to the road, with Tony right behind him. Both were out of breath and slightly in shock at the unexpected attack.

"They must have moved right through the last village..." the blond huffed in disbelief as he pulled his beretta from his hip holster, checked it over quickly and adopted an offensive stance. As Vass poked his head around the corner four trucks sped along the main road into town. Two vehicles packed with heavily armed militia rounded the corner by their position and headed deeper into the village, the other two trucks headed further along the main road around the perimeter.

"Looks like they're not interested in us." Tony added curiously, somewhat puzzled as he turned to follow the two trucks with his head that had curved past them, keeping an eye on their six.

"You're right…" Vass sounded slightly confused by the militia's actions. "But we need to move."

"Weapon?" Tony asked cautiously, Vass turned to face him with a look of uncertainty. "Ex-Marine, I know what I'm doing… and by the looks of things you need all the help you can get." The former brunet added still keeping his thick South African cover accent. If questioned as to why he spoke the way he did if he was previously in America he had a story all worked out. "… You're quite welcome to take on these guys single-handed… If its any conciliation I'm not gonna shoot you in the back." He finished sincerely with a modest grin.

"Semper-Fi?" Vass questioned knowingly, he'd worked with marines before.

"Something like that…" Tony shot back with his trademark DiNozzo grin, but there was something bitter about it, empty. The blond hesitated for a moment, thinking over whether or not it would be wise to hand over his spare gun to an almost stranger. Considering the circumstances he had no choice but to trust Tony, and that's exactly what the NCIS agent was banking on.

"Here. Cover me." The South African ordered as he pulled up his shirt and dug his spare pistol out from the back of his jeans and tossed it to Tony. The very special agent caught the weapon with ease and checked it over.

"Thanks. What's the plan?"

"Stay alive."

"Right…" Tony breathed skeptically. He covered their rear as Vass dug a radio out of his pocket.

"Ntini." The blond spoke down the receiver.

"_Vass? Where are you?"_ A voice of African descent shot back.

"Top left corner of the school facing the main road, Geiger's with me. Orders?"

"_Round up whoever you can and get back across the road we're loading up and heading out."_

"Where?"

"_East."_

"Towards the refugee camp?"

"_That's the plan brother."_

"Okay, see you in a few."

"_Affirmative."_

Gunfire and explosions cracked and bellowed in the near distance with screams and shouts intermixed. Tony turned towards his new comrade with an apprehensive look; they couldn't stay where they were for long. The sooner they got out of the area the better.

"We'll check out the school building, see if anyone took cover, then head back across the road to where we parked the truck. Load up and head out. We'll go east towards the refugee camp, you can look for your family there." Vass explained, Tony nodded content to follow orders; he wasn't about to argue with anyone. The two men turned on their heel and headed around towards the rear of the building. Something was bugging Tony, and his detective instincts started to kick in as much as he tried to suppress them and concentrate on the battle at hand.

"I don't get it." He spoke up, talking more to himself than Vass.

"Get what?"

"They just saw us on the road, they took shots at us. If they wanted to hit us they could have, we were _right_ there…" Tony mused, furrowing his brow in thought.

"Your point?" Vass shot back as he scanned the area ahead for hostiles.

"You saw it, they weren't interested in _us_…" The blond paused and turned to look back at Tony with a confused glance. The former brunet returned a knowing look. Vass didn't want to admit it but his new friend was right, if the militia wanted to kill them they would have, they could have, they were just being pushed out of the way…

"Bigger fish…" Vass mumbled as he whipped out his radio with a bitter smile shaking his head and got back on the line to Ntini. "You there?"

"_Vass? You again?"_

"Look to our north."

"_What?"_

"Just do it!"

"_Okay! Okay! …"_ Ntini swore down the receiver in his native tongue a few moments later. _"Another band of militia are heading down the road into town from the north…how did you know?"_

"I didn't." Vass replied, smiling thankfully at Tony who nodded in acknowledgment with a smile of his own.

"_We're caught in the middle!"_

"Yah, yah…" Vass replied frustrated taking the radio away from his mouth; he paused as they reached the opposite end of the school building and hung back for a moment scanning the open area in front of them, he was feeling quite on edge. Tony scanned the area behind them both, keeping a keen eye out for anything or anyone that decided it might want to sneak up and surprise them. Putting the receiver back up to his mouth Vass sighed. "We keep the plan. We're checking out the school and heading back. If we don't get in back in time, leave."

"_Copy that. Try to make it quick"_ Ntini replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice. Tony couldn't blame him, they were stuck in the middle of a private war and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. If one thing was for sure, the cavalry was not about to come gallantly galloping over the horizon to their rescue.

Tony nodded to Vass and the blond signaled for him to follow. Complying, the NCIS agent let the ex-military man have the lead. Checking that the coast was indeed clear the two men followed each other and rounded the corner to the rear face of the building. They took up positions either side of the entrance. Vass called out quietly to anyone inside. Muffled whimpers of pleading came in reply, Tony could only assume they were asking for help…or not to be killed. Vass announced that they were heading inside and motioned with his head for Tony to get the door. Following orders for the moment the former brunet took hold of the handle, twisted and pushed the door open. The two men entered the school with exact military-esque precision, immediately taking up defensive positions as soon as they stepped inside.

Tony closed the door behind them and moved left to a window keeping a look out. A family of five was held up in the school huddled in the far left corner, a husband and wife, their two daughters and a young son. Upon seeing two armed men enter their sanctuary the family of five gasped; one of the girls gave panicked yelp, the mother had tears running down her face and was silently sobbing. Vass gave a knowing nod to Tony as he checked his window to the right of the door, made his weapon safe, holstered it out of site so the family wouldn't panic and approached them cautiously. Tony picked up a few words out of the conversation Vass was having with them, it seemed rather one sided, but he reasoned he'd probably be scared witless too if an unknown force decided to invade his home and kill whoever got in their way without reason.

The NCIS agent sighed inwardly. He was beyond exhausted but attempted to push thoughts of sleep out of his mind, he needed to stay focused on the task at hand, helping these people and getting out alive. This whole mess was his fault after all… but beating himself up at that moment wasn't going to help anyone. He narrowed his green eyes as he scanned the surrounding buildings for militia; the screams, gunfire and explosions were getting closer by the minute. Moments later Vass had the family rounded up and ready to move in a tight huddle, he constantly spoke reassuring words to them, none of which Tony could much understand.

"You take point I'll keep them together." The blond ordered. Tony nodded and checked out the windows one last time before moving to the door and opening it. He headed out first in front of the family who exited the school after him, followed by Vass who brought up the rear. Rocket propelled grenade explosions cracked only a street away from them now, the northern force must have pushed back the militia that had come up from the south Tony reasoned. Taking the lead Tony lead the family back around the right wall of the school, the way he and Vass had approached in order to quickly reach the road. Just as they began to make their move along the edge of the school building gunfire erupted behind them and strafed the walls. Ducking out of reflex Tony darted back to protect the bundle of now hysterical people and cover his 'partner'.

Vass yelled for the family of five to move; they complied if only because the father practically dragged his kin along. The blond kept yelling at them to make for the truck pushing them from the rear. Tony came up beside Vass with his pistol in front of him ready and waiting.

"Go, I'll cover you." The NCIS agent shouted above the din. Vass shot him an uncertain glance and frowned at the amount of incoming firepower. "Go!" Tony urged, practically shoving the South African towards the road. He wasn't going anywhere, Tony stood firm. Reluctantly complying Vass nodded and quickly squeezed Tony's shoulder in thanks before moving off to safely ferry the family across the road back to their truck. Now alone Tony used what little of the wall he could to give himself some cover as he shot back at the approaching militia. "Damn it DiNozzo…" He mumbled to himself as he slowly moved back along the edge of the school towards the road. If he was going to die then and there, at least he could give that family as much time as they needed to get out. He reasoned it wouldn't make up for all the lives that had been lost due to his operation, but it would be _something_, at least.

Tony suddenly yelped and cringed as a bullet flew past him and grazed his left shoulder, gritting his teeth he shot back angrily attempting to block out the pain. Tony picked up his retreating pace and ducked behind the wall of the school that faced the road. He breathed deep and winced as he leant against it. Tony cringed, it was as if everything that had happened up until that moment compounded on his consciousness all at once. He felt like sidling down the face of the building and waiting for the enemy to reach him. He wanted to give up; he felt like it was what he deserved. Lowering his head he sighed and shut his eyes, his ears blocking out the sounds around him. So much for Plan A…

"Geiger!" A shout cut across his personal silence causing the agent to snap his head up. Vass slid to a halt by his side with a broad smile on his face. Tony looked at him slightly shocked but happy nonetheless at the unexpected reappearance. The former brunet had reasoned his acquaintance would just leave…people were getting the hang of abandoning him, but apparently not.

"Never leave a man behind." Vass sang. Tony looked at him with a smile that resonated many things, one of those main things being gratitude. The South African nodded and grabbed Tony's good shoulder in a gesture of affection. The sentiment from the blond struck a cord within Tony; he found himself thinking of his team back home. He figured he at least couldn't die until he got a chance to yell at them for not coming to get him sooner... He figured he owed Vass a beer for thinking him worthy enough of coming back for and he also figured that at least one person was still apparently on his side, and that was enough. For the moment…

"Semper-Fi." Tony mouthed. The blond nodded as he pulled the former brunet away from the school building in somewhat of a blur and back across the road away from the fast approaching militia. The pair barely made it back to the truck, which Vass had previously loaded with the family they had rescued while Tony was covering their rear. They took off just as their position was overrun but no one gave them chase, Tony figured it was the territory they wanted more than anything. That didn't stop the militia from letting off machine gun fire after them however. The other trucks had already left but Tony couldn't blame them. Vass still had his radio and apparently they all planed to meet up later at the refugee camp, where they would drop off the family they had rescued and anyone else the others had gathered.

"How's the shoulder?" Vass questioned as they drove with speed along a main dirt road eastwards.

"Just a scratch." Tony shrugged, not in the mood or wanting to play on his injury as he applied a ripped part of his shirt to stem the bleeding. Vass shot him a concerned glance but nodded, not content with but accepting of the answer. They could get him medical attention at the camp and the graze didn't look all that serious. Tony couldn't help but allow himself a private smile. His shoulder didn't hurt _that_ bad, like he had said, it was just a scratch after all. They had made it out, and they were safe…for now. His smile however turned into a bitter smirk, as his thoughts curved to wondering how long the peace would last… if he could _even_ call it that. His bitter smirk quickly warped into a self-loathing frown. If he got out of this mess alive, he didn't know if he could live with the shame and guilt of what hell he had helped create…

* * *

"Ziva, McGee, update." Gibbs ordered as he stormed into the bullpen. The two agents immediately jumped up and began to rant to their superior about the current case they were working on, which involved a murdered marine and his family. As Ziva and McGee shot backwards and forwards with what they had found, Gibbs' attention waned and he found himself drawn to the continuous broadcast about the situation overseas. At first the two agents didn't notice that their boss wasn't listening until they asked him a question and he didn't answer. Turning away from the plasma screen Ziva and McGee followed Gibbs' gaze towards the screen that sat to the right of Tony's desk. Images flash up of the conflict Tony was caught in. The text that constantly scrolled along the bottom of the images announced that a lot more people than expected have been forced to flee their homes and settle in camps. As if reading his boss' mind McGee groaned in frustration and flew to his desk.

"I can't belive we didn't think of it before!" he shouted.

"What?" Ziva questioned curiously, quite confused and slightly frustraied. Gibbs looked at her as if trying to transmit what they had realized, which only confused the assassin further. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"

"McGee with me, Ziva…"

"Find out where Lieutenant Williams' squad leader went and get in touch with the wife's sister and work up a list of who on the base was last to contact him. On it boss." She replied quickly sitting back down at her desk. The Mossad Officer watched as Gibbs and McGee quickly flocked to the elevator and took it down to god knew where with a quizzical look on her face.

* * *

"How's it coming?" Gibbs questioned both Abby and McGee as he waltzed into the Goth's lab with a CafPow! in one hand and a coffee in the other. Abby was standing in front of her computer like usual and McGee was seated beside her working on his laptop.

"Gibbs we don't have anything yet, we _barely_ just started searching the registered refugee records for Tony. I know you think we're good and I mean we are _good but_…" The goth spoke up turning to face her boss.

"I know." Gibbs interjected rather softly, his face as impassive as usual but hinting on a smile. Abby gave him a questioning glare. The senior agent handed her the CafPow! and sat the coffee down in front of McGee who glanced up at his boss with a genuinely surprised look on his face. Abby happily raised her eyebrows as she watched Gibbs leave with a small private smile on his features, as if he knew something they didn't. Abby looked to McGee who glanced right back at her. The two held each other's gaze for a moment then looked at the door contemplating Gibbs' mood. Eventually Tim cleared his throat and the two snapped out of their hypnotized state, swiftly turning to their computers and getting back to work…

* * *

Probably a Ziva-ish focus next chapter as far as the team is considered, don't worry palmer will pop up too sometime, I was amused after Bounce.~


End file.
